John Murray makes repentance necessary for salvation

 John Murray writes on union with Christ in Chapter 9, in Redemption Accomplished and Applied. You would think that such an important subject as he says on Page 171 would have been addressed earlier in the book. Bit instead he deals with the subject after discussing Faith and Repentance, Sanctification, and Perseverance. None of these things are conditions for salvation.

No one is saved by their Repentance, whether thay be the narrow or wide sense of the word.

John Murray also writes that union with Christ is a spiritual matter (Page 176). What does this mean? "'Spiritual' in the New Testament refers to that which is of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual man is the person who is indwelt and controlled by the Holy Spirit and a spiritual state of mind is a state of mind that is produced and maintained by the Holy Spirit."

It's not that Murray's views are necessarily wrong, they are necessarily unclear. What does he mean by being controlled by the Spirit unless he believes in mysticism? How can he discern a life that isn't lead by the Spirit? Would he agree with not by sight but by faith? But if faith includes repentance as even Schreiner says then I suppose he could say such.

The Bible does talk about walking according to the Spirit and by this it means to walk by faith, by the Bible, by the Gospel doctrine. What does a man bring before other men? What do they speak of (Matthew 7). We judge a prophet by the fruits of their words. Unfortunately if we follow Murray we would not know what to say.

John Murray's Final Justification

 John Murray, although he wrote years before Schreiner, and Murray's views are not quite as evident as Schreiner's, in Redemption Accomplished and Applied it is interesting he writes on sanctification and his views are quite the same as Schrieners. He says it is process (Page 157) and on the same page he says we are active.

He uses Philippians 2:12-13 to refer to the eschatology salvation. Remember in Schreiner's book, he writes on Final Justification?

Well John Murray says, "The salvation referred to here is not the salvation already in possession but the eschatology salvation."

What exactly does this mean? Again this book should be about Redemption we have in Christ and by Christ alone. Instead, Murray writes about what we do. Again is our justification a process? Does it involve my repentance from sins? Note the topics. Sanctification is one. He wrote on Faith and Repentance prior to Justification.

Our justification before God is complete. It is finish. We need not worry about attaining heaven. The only thing not yet is that we are still waiting for the new heavens and the new earth. We wait by faith in Christ cross work alone.

Schreiner believes works are necessary for salvation

I am just about done with Thomas Schreiner's book Faith Alone. Needless to say it is horrendous. The fact that this book was written and written from a Calvinistic Baptist point of view and endorsed by the Seminary's president is very frightening. When Schreiner says that Faith is living and active (Page 196) and throughout the book he is saying that works are necessary for salvation, for final justification (Page 48, 63, 65, 81, 84, 87, 98, 199, 200, 203) these aren't just mere slip ups. We might say a man may wright a good theological text and then might in it say one thing wrong. But the fact that he has repeated it for so much and for so long, this is not a mere mistake. He is teaching the Roman Catholic view of faith, which teaches that Faith is active our salvation. When he explains James 2, he says John Calvin and John Owen were wrong; Schreiner's view is the Catholic view. When Schreiner says good works are evidences, one should ask evidences for who? Luther himself says God does not need your good works. Does God need your good works to know whether you are believing the Gospel promises? No. Your neighbor needs your good works. Even with these they are a mere conjecture. For the question is what is a line? A line is between two points. However, we have never seen a line. Again, Schreiner says both James and Paul speak in a soteriological manner. 

Schreiner believes works are necessary for salvation

 . . . "I will show later in this book, that demonstrate that good works are necessary for salvation." - Thomas Schreiner, Faith Alone, Page 87

Or again on Page 93 when discussing Wesley, without any qualifications or push back, he says, "in conclusion, Wesley tried to maintain the balance of Scriptures. He affirmed that salvation is by faith alone and that our righteousness is grounded in Jesus Christ. Still, good works are necessary as fruit for our salvation, and if they aren't present, we have no hope for eternal life."

If good works are necessary for salvation Mr. Schreiner then guess what? You have no salvation nor do you have assurance. Salvation is either all of Christ and what He did for the elect alone or it is of works. Hope is founded in Christ alone not in our works.

Schreiner's view of the Law is unclear and unspecific

 The problem with Schreiner's Faith Alone book is numerous. Another problem one might have with Schreiner is his inability to properly define what the law is. He seems to stand on the premise that the law is merely the Torah (Page 101). But then again he isn't clear. A book about sola fide, one would think and hope that how one is justified or declared righteous would be clear. But then again, he starts his book with the idea that language is not precise and we are all just talking past each other.